Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Looking ahead

                                                                                    
We continually tell the kids,  "Eyes forward," "Watch where you are walking," "Look ahead." For obvious reasons of course.

When you have three year old preschoolers walking on a line, it's important they watch were they are going. If one goes down, they all go down. The problem being, there are so many distractions. Other children, teachers, artwork on the walls, whatever is in their path, their eyes are everywhere but forward.

It's just one of the many things we work on.

This brings me to the other day. I was pulling into the school parking lot on my way back from lunch and noticed the preschool bus had arrived early, which could only mean one thing...small group. But before I could come to any positive conclusions I had to make sure.

As I walked from the parking lot to the building I kept my eyes on the bus. I saw their little faces peeking through the bus door window, apparently the driver had unbuckled them while they waited for us. What I saw was two children. Only two. Now we've had low numbers before but never just two. I was still in unbelief, was it really possible that there was only two kids? So I kept staring.

I was so focused on the children in the bus I walked smack dab into a brick pillar.  Boom!
The bus driver saw me, the mom waiting in the parking lot saw me and who knows who else. I was stunned for a minute and slightly embarrassed then I just started to laugh.

Eye's forward, nope. Watching where I was walking, nope. Looking ahead, nope. Distracted, yes.

In class we would call that a natural consequence. Yeah, I suppose I should practice..... what I preach teach.

21 comments:

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Ouch!
I hate when I bruise my pride.

Kristina P. said...

Ha! That's the time when you always feel the dumbest.

Leanne said...

Oh no! I have to say, I chuckled when you wrote, "if one goes down, they all go down!"

But I guess we're never too old to be reminded of our own lessons! ;) Hope you weren't hurt!!!

Connie said...

Too funny! That sounds like something I would do, totally embarress myself and then wonder who was watching. You tickled my funny bone.

Anonymous said...

:) I always feel stupid when I say QUIT YELLING to my kids.

TisforTonya said...

love it... glad you were able to laugh at yourself a little (rather than have to run for bandages!)

Unknown said...

You really have me giggling over here! Ha!! So glad you shared that story. Are you okay??

Julie said...

Oh my goodness. I've done that before too. I was a gawking teenager watching a cute boy! Embarrassing, yes.

Lisa @ Pulsipher Page said...

totally done that!

Amy said...

ha ha, who HASN'T done that? Just call it a teaching moment. You can tell the kiddos that missed it what the story was, how you learned your lesson, and maybe it'll help the message to sink in.

Nat said...

Haha! Hope you didn't hurt yourself...apart from your pride!
As they say, teach by example :)

Amy @ Keep'n The SunnySide said...

Isn't it funny how we often worry more about WHO saw us than the fact we just about knocked ourselves silly. Been there, done that. I guess we never stop learning do we.

Vanessa said...

Oh I sooooo have done that before. and yes I so more worried about being embarrassed, then the blood running down my face.

Anonymous said...

haha I have done that before! It's so embarrassing....

Laura said...

Oh no, but oh so funny! Hope nothing is bruised!

Melinda said...

Sounds like something I would do! Actually, sounds like something I have DONE! ;0) Yes, the only thing you can do is laugh. Although another strategy would be to flip your hair and act like "I meant to do that." I've tried that approach too!

lesa said...

I've done that before too but also there is nothing worse than watching someone who is going to run into something...you can't quite get the words out fast enough to say stop...

Glad you are okay.

Lady Fromage said...

Thanks for sharing the story!! LOL.... Not laughing *at* you, I'm laughing with you. Ok, maybe I am laughing at you. Just a little ;)

What I Did Today said...

Mwahahahahaha! My mom did that once. Only for her it was a solid tree limb. Too funny. I really like the snowman header, by the way.

Amy said...

That's a great story! Boy, I totally relate to that eyes forward. One of many things we work on in kindergarten. In fact, I'll share our saying..."I've got my hands behind my back. I'm standing very tall. My eyes are looking straight ahead...I'm ready for the hall." Heard of this one before???

Laura Marchant said...

Oh no, lol!